Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of capturing CO2 with a CO2 adsorbent that includes an adsorbent matrix of a zeolite and/or a metal organic framework and carbon nanotubes dispersed in the adsorbent matrix.
Description of the Related Art
The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
In recent years, environmental pollution is identified as one of the most significant issues with respect to environmental health and safety. The major concern is the formation of greenhouse gases, most importantly carbon dioxide, as a result of burning fossil fuels. Continuous release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere causes global warming, shore floods, atmospheric heat waves, land droughts, and destruction of cold-marine life, which may directly or indirectly reduce world's gross domestic product by about 5 to 20% [Lee, S. Y. and Park, S. J., A review on solid adsorbents for carbon dioxide capture. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 2015, 23: p. 1-11]. The increase of the atmospheric temperature was measured to be about 0.74% in the last century and is predicted to reach to about 6.4% at the end of the current century [Lee, S. Y. and Park, S. J., A review on solid adsorbents for carbon dioxide capture. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 2015, 23: p. 1-11]. In view of that, a significant effort is dedicated to minimize and control CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. A switch from fossil fuel energy to a pollution-free source of energy, e.g. renewable energy sources, does not appear to be practicable in a short period of time. Therefore, one possible solution to continue to use fossil fuel energy would be to minimize CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by carbon capture and storage.
The on-going research in the field of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is gaining momentum every day. A vast number of research studies involve CO2 separation and storage, with the primary objective of developing novel adsorption materials or CO2 adsorbents [Ben-Mansour, R., Habib, M. A., Bamidele, O. E., Basha, M., Qasem, N. A. A., Peedikakkal, A., Laoui, T., and Ali M., Carbon capture by physical adsorption: Materials, experimental investigations and numerical modeling and simulations—A review, Applied Energy, 2016, 161: p. 225-255]. Also, a number of researchers have studied the processes of carbon dioxide capture e.g. pressure swing adsorption and temperature swing adsorption [Biswas, Agrawal, S., and Sinha, S., Modeling and simulation for pressure swing adsorption system for hydrogen purification. Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly, 2010, 24(4): p. 409-414; Casas, N Schell, J., Pini, R and Mazzotti, M., Fixed bed adsorption of CO2/H2 mixtures on activated carbon: experiments and modeling. Adsorption, 2012, 18(2): p. 143-161; Cavenati, S Grande, C. A., and Rodrigues, A. E., Separation of mixtures by layered pressure swing adsorption for upgrade of natural gas, Chemical Engineering Science, 2006, 61(12): p. 3893-3906; Chaffee, A. L., Knowles, G. P., Liang, Z., Zhang, J., Xiao, P., and Webley, P. A., CO2 capture by adsorption: Materials and process development, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2007, 1(1): p. 11-18; Cho, S. H., Park, J. H., Beum, H. T., Han, S. S., and Kim,J. N., A 2-stage PSA process for the recovery of CO2 from flue gas and its power consumption in Carbon Dioxide Utilization for Global Sustainability, Proceedings of 7th the International Conference on Carbon Dioxide Utilization, 2004, Elsevier B V. p. 405-410; Choi, W. K., Kwon, T. I., Yeo, Y. K., Lee, H Song, H. K., and Na, B. K., Optimal operation of the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process for CO2 recovery, Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2003, 20(4): p. 617-623; Dantas, T. L., Amorim, S. M., Luna, F. M. T., Silva Jr, I. J., de Azevedo, D. C., Rodrigues, A. E., and Moreira, R. F., Adsorption of carbon dioxide onto activated carbon and nitrogen-enriched activated carbon: surface changes, equilibrium, and modeling of fixed-bed adsorption, Separation Science and Technology, 2009, 45(1): p. 73-84; Dantas, T. L. P., Luna, F. M. T., Silva, I. J., de Azevedo, D. C. S., Grande, C. A., Rodrigues, A. E., and Moreira, R. F. P. M., Carbon dioxide-nitrogen separation through adsorption on activated carbon in a fixed bed, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2011, 169(1-3): p. 11-19; Dantas, T. L. P., Luna, F. M. T., Silva, I. J., Torres, A. E. B., de Azevedo, D. C. S., Rodrigues, A. E., and Moreira, R. F. P. M., Carbon dioxide-nitrogen separation through pressure swing adsorption, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2011, 172(2-3): p. 698-704; Gomes, V. G. and Yee, K. W. K., Pressure swing adsorption for carbon dioxide sequestration from exhaust gases, Separation and Purification Technology, 2002, 28(2): p. 161-171; Krishnamurthy, S., Rao, V. R Guntuka, S., Sharratt, P., Haghpanah, R., Rajendran, A., Amanullah, M., Kari I. A., and Farooq, S., CO2 capture from dry flue gas by vacuum swing adsorption: A pilot plant study, AIChE Journal, 2014, 60(5): p. 1830-1842; Lee, C. H., Yang, J., and Ahn, H., Effects of carbon-to-zeolite ratio on layered bed H2 PSA for coke oven gas, AIChE Journal, 1999, 45(3): p. 535-545; Park, J. H., Kim, J. N., and Cho, S. H., Performance analysis of four-bed H2 PSA process using layered beds, AIChE Journal, 2000, 46(4): p. 790-802; Wang, L., Liu, Z., Li,P., Yu, J., and Rodrigues, A. E., Experimental and modeling investigation on post-combustion carbon dioxide capture using zeolite 13X-APG by hybrid VTSA process, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2012, 197: p. 151-161; Wang, L. Yang, Y., Shen, W., Kong, X., Li, P., Yu, J., and Rodrigues, A. E., Experimental evaluation of adsorption technology for CO2 capture from flue gas in an existing coal-fired power plant, Chemical Engineering Science, 2013, 101: p. 615-619]. In addition, some researchers have focused on developing adsorbent materials with enhanced CO2 capture capacities and CO2 selectivity. However, a relatively low thermal conductivity of the adsorbent materials has been shown to be a major drawback that restricts the adsorbent materials from having enhanced CO2 capture capacities and CO2 selectivity.
In view of the forgoing, one objective of the present disclosure is to provide a CO2 adsorbent that includes MIL-100(Fe) and various amounts of carbon nanotubes that are dispersed therein. Another objective of the present disclosure provides a method of capturing CO2 with a CO2 adsorbent that includes an adsorbent matrix of a zeolite and/or a metal organic framework and carbon nanotubes that are dispersed within the adsorbent matrix.